A panel member is someone who subscribed to our online panel by filling out the form found here and clicking the “Register” button underneath it. By clicking on the same button you confirm that you agree to this Privacy Policy.

Personal data includes the type of information by which a person can be identified, including name, email address, place of work, physical address, etc. This data is collected either at panel registration stage or later, during the time that person is a member of our panel.

General notes about our privacy policy
Securing the privacy of the personal data our panel members provide us is a priority for our company. This privacy policy is intended to describe how DataDiggers ensures the security of storing and processing the personal information our panel members send us, in accordance to the law.

The processing, use, storage and/or destruction of personal data are made in strict accordance with the Law no. 677/2001 for the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal information and the free movement of such data.

Accessing and using the website aepanel.datadiggers-mr.com involves your explicit acceptance of this privacy policy. This privacy policy may be changed at any time without a prior notice, so that it is kept in accordance to the legislation and/or company policy. It is therefore important that you review this privacy policy on a regular basis to be aware of any changes. DataDiggers will make every effort to publish a link to this privacy policy in any survey invitation sent to panel members and within each member’s account.

DataDiggers is a company that operates in full compliance with the ICC Code of ESOMAR.

Cookies
A cookie is a method of storing a small amount of information in a web browser, so that it is not necessary for the same data to be reintroduced every time on the same device; the purpose of using cookies is to facilitate navigation on the Internet.
The reduced amount of information cookies use is stored on the hard drive of your computer. We may use cookies to store information about the users accessing the aepanel.datadiggers-mr.com website; therefore, there may be sections of the website which may require you to accept cookies.

Any user of the website aepanel.datadiggers-mr.com has the option to accept, reject or restrict the installation of cookies or receive invitations to install cookies.

Privacy warranty
DataDiggers will not disclose the personal information in its possession to a third party without the express agreement of the panel members. Personal data is collected and processed only based on the explicit agreement of the panel members, both at panel registration stage as well as during specific surveys or during the time a person is a member of our panel, by asking members to update their information on consumption, personal interests, attitudes etc. on a regular basis.

At panel registration phase, DataDiggers will require some basic personal information: email address, password, date of birth, sex and zip code where the future panel member lives for more than 6 months in a year. All this information is mandatory for a person to join the panel, as it is essential to guarantee the quality of responses to our surveys. Name is also required as optional information. During the time someone is a panel member the information we may ask include (but is not limited to): education level, number of children in the household, age and gender of children, personal income, household income, the industry panel member is currently employed in, different preferences for goods and services and more. Filling out this information is not mandatory and does not affect in any way the membership in our panel, but the more detailed is the information provided, the higher the chance of qualifying to future surveys.

However, some market research studies can only be conducted based on specific personal information of the panel members, which should be disclosed to our customers. Such studies are those in which a physical product is sent to the panel member for testing purposes or those in which the customer wishes to directly interview our panel members. In those cases, DataDiggers will require the explicit consent from panel member regarding the collection and disclosure of that personal data and will require the third-party clients that have access to the personal data to sign a special agreement through which they commit that the information will strictly be used for market research purposes and exclusively within that study.

DataDiggers may disclose personal data of panel members when there is a court order in this regard.

Whenever personal data is collected a link to this privacy policy is accessible to any current or future member panel. Personal data may be collected both from the person who is or will be a member of our panel as well as from any member of this person’s household/family.

In both cases, the following information is disclosed to the user at the time of collection of personal data:

identification of the legal entity that collects and processes personal data

the purpose of collecting and processing the personal data

the option to adjust the personal data already provided

other information that may be necessary from case to case.

If data is not collected directly from panel member, DataDiggers will also ensure that panel member is informed about this before actually starting the collection of personal data.
Handling the information of other websites which are linked to aepanel.datadiggers-mr.com is not covered by this privacy policy.

Declared purposes
DataDiggers shall disclose in writing the purpose or purposes for which personal data is collected at the time of their collection.

The purposes DataDiggers collects personal data are:

to conduct quantitative and/or qualitative market research surveys

so that panel member can receive notifications to the email address provided

to determine whether the panel member is eligible for future quantitative and/or qualitative market research surveys

to act in accordance with the law.

If DataDiggers has to use the personal data for a different purpose than originally communicated to the panel members, it will make this known to the panel members before the actual use of such personal data. The panel member has to give the consent so that his/her personal data can be used for other purposes, except when the law allows the data usage to be made without a specific prior agreement.

DataDiggers will not use the personal data for direct marketing, promotion, advertising or sale of any products and services.

Limited data collection
DataDiggers only collects personal data that is essential to ensure conducting sociological research within normal quality parameters. We never collect more personal data than necessary for the purpose stated. DataDiggers only processes the information that is relevant and appropriate to the purpose for which they are collected.

Limited data retention duration
DataDiggers keeps the personal data provided by panel members only for a limited duration, as long as it is necessary to the stated purpose for which they were collected. Depending on the initial purpose stated the shelf life of personal data may vary. The personal information that is no longer relevant or necessary for the stated purpose will be destroyed.

Panel member agreement
DataDiggers will not process the personal data of panel members without their explicit consent, unless the law allows that the usage of data can be done without a prior agreement.
DataDiggers will inform the panel members about the processing of personal data before or while they are collected.
In case we use a list of respondents supplied by a third party we will ensure that respondents on that list have given their consent to have their personal data processed, before that data is used by DataDiggers.

Our panel members have the right to accept or reject participation in any study. This does not affect the panel membership status in any way.
Sometimes, some studies require interviewing over the phone or face to face. DataDiggers will always require written consent from panel members to participate in such studies. It is totally the option of panel member if he/she wants to participate or refuse participation in these types of studies. If a panel member agrees to participate in a survey by phone or face to face this means the panel member has given his/her consent to the processing of his/her personal information necessary to carry out that study. Subsequently, if the panel member wants to withdraw his/her consent given to the processing of personal information, he/she can do it through a written notice sent to this email address: panelsupport.ae@datadiggers-mr.com.
DataDiggers avoids collecting personal information deemed sensitive: data about religion, sex, political, race, ethnic origin, trade union membership, physical and mental health and criminal record. However, if it is essential to collect certain sensitive information in order to conduct a survey, DataDiggers will get the written consent of the panel member before collecting the sensitive information.

Security of personal data
The safety measures DataDiggers takes to prevent the risk of loss, theft, unauthorized collection, disclosure, copying, modification or destruction of personal data of panel members are:

using powerful anti-virus software to prevent the installation of malware that may affect the personal data collected

using unique password access.

Our managers and employees respect the confidentiality of personal information we hold. The access to panel member’s account is protected by a unique email address and password so that only panel member can access his/her own personal information.

Panel members are asked to never reveal his/her personal account password to third parties. It is also important to log off after accessing aepanel.datadiggers-mr.com and close the web browser, especially when the website was accessed from a public terminal or from a device used by other household members. DataDiggers never asks the password to the account of a panel member.

Our employees and managers process personal data using maximum security measures, in accordance with this Privacy Policy, regardless of the place data is accessed.

Individual access to data
Our panel members always have the possibility to request information about how we process their personal data, to have access to them or to request us to change or delete them. This can be done by sending a written notice to panelsupport.ae@datadiggers-mr.com. DataDiggers will do everything possible to promptly answer any inquiry and to provide the applicant with all the required information.

DataDiggers may not provide panel members with access to all their personal data in the following situations:

when accessing the personal data can reveal confidential business information

when accessing the personal data can reveal personal data of other panel members

when data was collected according to law, without the consent of the member of the panel

when data is collected for legal purposes (e.g. as part a legal investigation).

Whenever DataDiggers cannot fulfill the demand of a panel member asking to have access to his/her personal data, the panel member will be informed in writing about the reason of refusal.

Any panel member has the opportunity to modify his/her personal data at any time during membership by logging in his/her account on aepanel.datadiggers-mr.com. If a panel member has forgotten his/her password, this can be recovered by clicking here. Also, the panel membership can be deleted with a simple click on the corresponding button found in the “Update profile” section of each panel member account.